NEW YORK – The "Fire Isiah" chants were in full gear, the Mavericks were up by 20 points, and everything pointed toward a relaxing fourth quarter for Dirk Nowitzki.

It would have taken a next-level sort of breakdown to blow this, right?

Well, the Mavericks didn't blow it. But Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry still were battling with four minutes left in a game that never really should have gotten as close as it did.

A big lead lost was as much the focus for the Mavericks as the victory after they hung on, 99-89, over the embattled New York Knicks. Considering the Mavericks were up by 23 in the third quarter against a team that had been humiliated by Philadelphia by 28 points two nights earlier at Madison Square Garden, the Mavericks were having a hard time celebrating this one.

"The last three minutes of the third quarter were absolutely pathetic," coach Avery Johnson said. "The guys that were in there let the whole team down.

"I thought Devean George was going to be able to play the whole fourth quarter. But we had some individuals that let him down, and they didn't carry their weight out there on the floor while they were in there and they know who they are."

The group in question was Brandon Bass, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop and Josh Howard.

What Johnson had hoped to do was rest his regulars down the stretch. And with a 22-point lead with under four minutes left in the third, it was a reasonable goal.

But the Knicks carved the gap to 16, then finally to seven in the fourth quarter before the Mavericks held on. Johnson said the issue was addressed with the group that was on the floor.

It sure sounded like Johnson was throwing a wet blanket on the win, although he said that's not the case.

"Ain't no wet blanket," he said. "We won by whatever margin, and with the way we've been playing, for us to win two games in a row, ain't no wet blankets over here. Warm blankets. Warm, dry blankets."

That much is true. There's nothing that will help a lukewarm team than a visit to New York these days. The Knicks are in turmoil, starting with coach Isiah Thomas, who has been given a vote of confidence by ownership but remains a vocal target of fans.

With 8:55 left in the third quarter and the Mavericks up by 20, the locals could stand it no more. The chant was a rip-off of the hallowed "Let's Go Yank-ees" chorus.

"Fire I-say-uh (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). Fire I-say-uh (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)."

It should be noted that Madison Square Garden was still full, presumably with people who paid to get in.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, got a season-best 36 points from Dirk Nowitzki, including 34 in the first three quarters, when the Mavericks opened a large advantage.

A couple of buckets from Jason Terry in the fourth quarter kept New York from getting closer than seven points.

But really, this game was won in the first half, when the Knicks shot 29.3 percent from the field and the Mavericks 57.6 percent.

The Mavericks challenged themselves last week to treat this stretch of games like a mini-playoff run, hoping to take each contest as a separate entity and build a nice winning streak one by one.

Still, the lack of a laugher – heck, even a giggler at this point would be nice – still haunted them.

"We just haven't developed that killer instinct yet," said Devin Harris. "We had them on the ropes, and we let them hang around. We should have gotten the lead up there to 20 or 25 instead of 16 going into the fourth. Then we had a battle.

"That's a point in the game right there where we got to put these guys away so we can rest guys. We have yet to have a game like that this year."